Creating a Family Education Plan

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This helpful video to the right shows one method for creating a family homeschool binder. Other ideas are listed below. The key is to customize your family homeschool binder to meet your needs. Hopefully, some of these ideas will be instrumental in helping you organize the best tool for your family.

A family planner is used to organize information to be used for the family in general. In addition to a calendar, the home school family planner should have the following sections:

Family Master Plan

Annual Planning Calendar

Family Meeting Agendas

Weekly Family Plan forms

In addition, it is helpful to have a section for each member of the family. Benchmark Achievement lists can be included in this section to give parents quick reference to the current skills and principles their children are learning.

​Other helpful sections include:

Menu planning forms

Grocery lists

Family budget

Phone and address directory with frequent contacts listed separately

Key information about each family member and

The family planner can be a physical book or it can be stored electronically. Click on the links on the side bar to see sample templates. Our forms are simple and can be easily adapted for the family needs. Families may print the forms if they wish or adapt them to meet the family needs. A simple spiral notebook, a pencil, and a ruler are all you need to create a custom family planner to meet your needs.

A weekly family meeting is a valuable tool for homeschooling families as they plan learning activities, coordinate schedules, and set goals for the future. Family meeting is a time for members to discuss calendars, acknowledge accomplishments, make decisions, and solve problems that need to be addressed. Family meetings are most effective when they are short (20 minutes maximum), and when all family members are able to participate. A simple agenda will keep the members on task.

A Family Constitution: One method for teaching the value of a Constitution is by creating a family constitution for the governing of the family. If this Constitution is patterned after the US Constitution, family members will develop a deeper understanding and respect for this great document. Our Constitution template is just an example. If parents choose to use a family constitution model, they are encouraged to come up with a Constitution that works for them.

Weekly House Cleaning: Every home is different with specific cleaning needs. However, every home requires care and upkeep and home schooling can be a drain the time required to keep the home clean and orderly. The weekly house cleaning checklist is a job list that can be pulled out once a week, and if all members of the family participate, the home can be given a good surface cleaning in 1-2 hours. Families may use or modify our checklist for weekly house cleaning jobs. Each family member can be given specific jobs from the list. Set a time limit and see how quickly the family can get the weekly jobs done.

Resources

The following books offer some wonderful tips for creating a family mission statement, master plan, and weekly family meetings:​

A House United: Changing Children's Hearts and Behaviors by Teaching Self-Government by Nicholeen Peck